Traitor, Traitor [NaNoWriMo 2013]

Chapter Eleven

My wrists itched. My eyes snapped open and my head shot up, eliciting a moan from me. My neck had become stiff from leaning in one position and my head throbbed. I tried to move my hands to rub it, but they wouldn't budge. I tugged on my arms, but something cut into my wrists.

I had been bound to a tree, my arms wrapped behind me around its trunk. Rope grazed my wrists. My dagger had been taken from me as well as my cape and scarf. I could feel the cool wind on my face, my hair fluttering. I leaned back against the trunk, pulling my knees up. My legs had been bound as well. I shifted into a more comfortable sitting position.

It was night still, though what little of the moon I could see betrayed the fact that it wouldn't remain dark for long. I was in the forest, trees rising on all sides like pillars. They held up a ceiling of dense leaves, branches weaving into each other. Moonlight struggled to pierce through, and the little that pooled down was insufficient in lighting up my surroundings. Since I had been unconscious, my eyes didn't take long to adjust to the sparse light, and even that was not enough. I could make out silhouettes of trees and bushes and what looked like an empty bonfire.

There was nobody around me and I wondered why someone would just leave me here. I wasn't complaining, but it wasn't the best idea to leave someone you had captured alone.

I swallowed past my growing panic. Maybe it had been the person's plan to just leave me here to rot. If I didn't get out of here soon, I would be at the mercy of the animals and insects.

I struggled against the ropes, but that only resulted in it digging deeper into my wrists. I stopped when I felt blood trickle down my fingers.

A deep rumbling of laughter came from behind me. I strained my neck to look back, but the people stepped into my line of vision.

"Well, well, well," one man said, the other two coming to a halt beside him. "Look who we have here."

I knew that voice. I had grown up with that voice.

"Segan?" I asked. He had been Larkin's advisor and trusted friend, which meant that when Larkin wasn't available to train us, Segan would. I hadn't seen him with the party that had arrived at the palace and had assumed he was with the rebels, here. "What are you doing?"

"Larkin told us to stay away from you," he hissed, sinking to a crouch. Something glinted and I felt the icy tip of a sword being pressed against my neck. "But why should we? Do you know what you did, you stupid girl?"

I met his gaze levelly, daring even to wring up a sly smile. My face was the only thing not giving my galloping heart away. "Of course I know what I did. I went home."

A fist connected with the side of my face, throwing my head to the side. My ears rang with the impact and I had to blink several times to wipe the spots from my vision. My headache pierced and my chest heaved. I tasted blood. The punch had cut the inside of my cheek. The force of the impact had stretched my left arm and I was sure my wound had opened again.

I flipped my hair back and glared at him. The throbbing behind my eyes made it hard for me to focus.

"You've always been a stubborn one." Segan stood and nodded to the two men beside him. They untied my arms from around the tree, but were quick in binding my wrists together in front of me. One man hauled me up, his fingers taut around my arm. I winced as the contact ignited my wound. It was definitely open.

"What do you want Segan?" I asked. The other man undid the rope around my legs and I considered kicking him.

"I," started Segan, drawing my attention up, "have an offer. Leave the king and go away."